My Mouth is a Vessel

In this episode, Bhavisha Panchia speaks with artist Ana Paula Santana about her practice working with clay, voice and resonance. The sound commission is titled, My Mouth is a Vessel (2025) and emerges from an exploration of the sonic potential of ceramic material activated purely by air. It is constructed entirely with sounds from ocarinas and ceramic whistles crafted by the artist, brought to life through an air compressor, hoses, and an air pressure control gun. These sounds are then routed and processed through a single effects pedal (Hologram Microcosm Granular Pedal) to generate pulses via granular synthesis. By examining the unique sonic qualities of each ceramic piece—its size, cavities, and densities—these sounds establish the foundational rules shaping this commission. The work also connects to the artist’s interest in using ceramic forms as a means of understanding the human body, tracing the journey of air from mouth to lungs, where it transforms into resonance: the wonder we call voice. Notes from below brings together the works of artists and musicians whose research, poetics, and sound practices are coupled with an understanding of the below as that which is beneath – the quiet, inaudible yet present. Their works demonstrate how inherited forms and traditions inform lineages, yet are unstable and open to change and adaptation. History, memory and knowledge are re-encoded through art practice and cast across generations and geographies. Notes from Below asks for us to look and listen closer to the cultural and epistemic transfers that occur on micro and macro levels, in personal and communal spaces. https://parastatal.art/sound-series/@nfb